So maybe hitting coaches do matter? The Jays continued their offensive onslaught yesterday, pounding the Reds and Bronson Arroyo and winning 14-1 behind a great team effort and a solid start by A.J. Burnett.
Of course, they have a tougher task today, as the fact is that Bronson Arroyo is not very good. Today they have to contend with a better pitcher in Aaron Harang, whose awful 3-10 record is weirdly out of sync with his respectable if a little high 4.33 ERA, 1.34 Whip, and especially his quite excellent 91/23 K/BB ratio over his 106 innings.
Although it's essentially meaningless, the Jays still have the slimmest hope of ending the first half of the season at .500, if they win their next four games. The first step toward doing that will be helmed by Roy Halladay, who left his last start after being hit on the temple by a line drive. It looked very scary, but apparently Doc hasn't had any bad effects and is healthy. Doc has been fantastic this season and is way better than his 8-6 record. If they Jays keep hitting like they have the last 2 games, and Doc continues to pitch as well as he has, it won't take long for his record to improve.